I don't remember him saying out loud what M3 Max model he had, but in the fan noise part, the Cinebench screen indicated a 16-core CPU so obviously it was the 40-core GPU. The M3 Pro he had was the same as mine. My score is within the margin of error of his, and fan noise seems the same, though listening via headphones on a YouTube video is different than hearing it in person two feet away. I guess I'll have to crack open the 14/30 Max and see for myself.
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14'' M3 Max new owners - fan noise?
- Thread starter Badfish12
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I don't remember him saying out loud what M3 Max model he had, but in the fan noise part, the Cinebench screen indicated a 16-core CPU so obviously it was the 40-core GPU. The M3 Pro he had was the same as mine. My score is within the margin of error of his, and fan noise seems the same, though listening via headphones on a YouTube video is different than hearing it in person two feet away. I guess I'll have to crack open the 14/30 Max and see for myself.
Whisper quiet. Had it since the 7th. Launch Day. First Space Black Best Buy had received.
I was just about to ask the same thing, but I'm going to assume the 14/30 since that's the only 14-inch Max Best Buy stocks.
So currently in hand, you have a 14/30 but you have ordered a 16/40 which is coming in Monday? And the 14/30 is quiet.
Because yes, I noticed that Best Buy doesn’t have anything more than the 14/30
What’s the philosophy here in your opinion because I’m torn right now do I gotta go back to a 16 inch is the idea we just leave our computer in low power mode but we know that we have the potential for more power and turn it off if we need it in the moment?
I wonder if the automatic power mode could be fine-tuned to really only come on would needed in future software updates, though I’ve not tested enough with the automatic mode at the moment, to know if it already works
The other option is it seems the 14/30 variant people don’t seem to be noticing high fan noise but I guess we will need more testing to confirm this and only 96 GB is our option for memory on that one
Sorry I wasn’t clear. I have the 16/40 arriving Monday. I now only have an M2 pro with 16gb. I wish I had gone 32 when I purchased it in feb as I’m noticing slowdowns in Lightroom/multitasking but I never hear the fans. I didn’t see any point of going from the M2 pro 16 to an M3 pro 32 so I decided to go all out with the 16/40 M3 max with 48 gb. Now I’m worried the fans will be loud often. That’s a deal breaker for me. I don’t plan running in high power mode and would like to leave it set to auto and do some light editing on my lap at times without it sounding like a jet engine not to mention all the dust they suck in.
Oh OK, yeah I mean you made the right logical upgrade choice well let us know what you find from your testing. For me I was just used to leaving high power mode on with my 16 inch so I’m gonna try to leave automatic on now, and see if that helps at all, leaving it on low power mode. Just seems not right for some reason.
Will do. I would expect some noise but if it sounds like a Dell laptop i won’t be happy. My m2 pro is great just need at least 32 gb. I’ve never heard the fans.
That's the M3 Pro, my dude/dudette. We're talking about the M3 Max.
I had a feeling this would happen and got an M3 Pro in the 14 instead.
GPU full load remains dead silent even with AI stuff.
I was playing with another system monitoring an noted my Fan max speeds were different and then I remembered your post and the video and seen yours are the same, kind of odd that they are different...but knowing there's others out there like mine, I am more at ease!
Were you able to conduct these tests with automatic mode? My 14" 16/40 just shipped today, and I am wondering what to look forward to ...
I don't understand why we maxing out the 14" mbp. It can't disperse the heat as the 16" and previous generations were throttled to avoid overheating.
The base M3 pro with upgraded memory is doing much better than the Max. The Max chips run a little bit hotter and the smaller chassis doesn't help.
Hopefully, it changes and gets better but more than likely this chip will also be limited to avoid the overheating and loud fans.
The base M3 pro with upgraded memory is doing much better than the Max. The Max chips run a little bit hotter and the smaller chassis doesn't help.
Hopefully, it changes and gets better but more than likely this chip will also be limited to avoid the overheating and loud fans.
100% agree. Some battery tests even showed 34% more battery used by the Max on load.
Also for lighter tasks like 4K streaming, the Pro lasts 24% longer.
Then there is the heat/fan noise difference which is huge.
For most even base M3 is enough performance with the M3 Pro just being more value for money with the other upgrades it gets (plus two fans). It’s really the best spec overall imo.
For me the reason is because the only way to get better CPU performance with the M3 generation is with the M3 Max. Unlike the M1 and M2 series, you need to update to the full blown Max to get the better CPU performance. Granted, I could have done with the 14/30 Max instead of the full one, but for reasons unknown not all memory configs are now available with the binned version. To get to 48 or 64 you need the full one.
If I would be given an option to disable half the GPU cores for less heat / silent operation, I would not hesitate to activate that option. I only need the CPUs
but then the 16'' MBP is the better choice. It is the best chip, the fastest MBP, a bit bigger and heavier but no other compromises. No overheat, full power of the MAX and the longest lasting battery.For me the reason is because the only way to get better CPU performance with the M3 generation is with the M3 Max. Unlike the M1 and M2 series, you need to update to the full blown Max to get the better CPU performance. Granted, I could have done with the 14/30 Max instead of the full one, but for reasons unknown not all memory configs are now available with the binned version. To get to 48 or 64 you need the full one.
If I would be given an option to disable half the GPU cores for less heat / silent operation, I would not hesitate to activate that option. I only need the CPUs
But its too big to haul around. 🤷🏻 My 14" shipped a few hours ago, so I will at least give a try